The objective of the program is to maintain in Colombia a research center that encourages high quality research and provides research experience in the health-related sciences through collaborative efforts of scientists of Tulane University and other American institutions and those of Colombian universities and institutions. The major areas of research activity are in infectious diseases with emphasis on parasites and arthropod vectors, in nutrition, and in social and behavioral sciences, including the organization, administration, delivery and evaluation of health services. A major effort will be directed toward assessment and solution of health problems that are peculiar to Colombia and other areas of the American tropics and which, at the same time, are of mutual interest, are feasible, and have a clear relationship to health problems of the hemisphere. The program offers American biomedical scientists and other health specialists the opportunity to gain research experience and special knowledge of the health problems peculiar to the region and the factors which give rise to them, and it encourages participation in the search for solutions to these problems, the ultimate goal of the program being to increase the body of scientific information and at the same time to increase the number of biochemical scientists and health specialists who have a firm knowledge of the health problems of the region, have demonstrated their capabilities and have gained confidence in themselves as international health workers, and have acquired a lasting interest in the assessment and solution of international biomedical problems through research.